Phillipsburg education board would have to fund clinic

February 24, 2004|By Harley Payette Special to The Morning Call - Freelance

The Phillipsburg Board of Education learned Monday it would have to foot the bill itself if it wants a medical clinic to be part of its new state-funded Early Childhood Center.

Superintendent Gordon Pethick announced at a board meeting that representatives from the New Jersey Schools' Construction Corp. turned down the district's request to fund the 3,300-square-foot clinic as part of the proposed 24,000-square-foot early childhood center. Pethick said he received the news from SCC Policy and Communications Managing Director Donald Moore in a meeting Thursday.

The SCC, in accordance with a New Jersey Supreme Court order, is paying for the $16 million center but won't pay for the medical clinic because it doesn't have a direct relation to the education provided at the school, said board business administrator William Poch. The estimated cost of the clinic, which the district hopes to use to provide medical attention for the school's mostly 3- and 4-year-old students and for a nonprofit community group at night, is about $500,000.

The news comes as a disappointment but not a surprise, said Pethick and Poch. They noted the board had received conflicting opinions on the funding of the clinic. Early indications were that the SCC would fund the shell of the building, including the walls, roof and possibly the floor. "It's not the answer we hoped for, but at least we got them to give us something," said Poch, who noted that with the state's decision the board can draw up a plan of action for the clinic.

The decision gives the board a fairly short time line for allocating money for the clinic if it wants to have it built simultaneously with the center. The SCC is set to open bids on the Early Childhood Center on Friday and plans to award a contract within 60 days. Poch said a shovel would be in the ground early this spring, with the center set to open in 2005. If the board wants to pay for the clinic it would have to provide the money and add it to the bid package within 60 days of the contract award.

Poch noted that the board is not bound to build the clinic now, though that would be the most convenient and cost-effective route.